From Fanwu to Xinghai

Chapter 53 Barbarian Sacred Mountain, Ambush Squads

Lin Chen and Lin Yuan set off early the next morning. Before leaving, they handed over the defense of Yanhuang Pass to Chen Bo and the remaining guards, and left three time-stopping talismans, enough to hold off the Dark Blade Pavilion's attack for half a month.

The road to the Barbarian Sacred Mountain is treacherous, requiring passage through the core of the desolate lands, where sandstorms mixed with psionic energy rage year-round. Ordinary people would be reduced to dust within half an hour of entering. Lin Chen, protected by the River of Time mark, could barely withstand the onslaught, but Lin Yuan was in poor condition. His lifespan was nearly exhausted; he coughed up blood every time he used his time-manipulation abilities, and the mark on his forehead had faded to almost invisible gray.

"If you can't manage, stay at the border. I'll go myself," Lin Chen couldn't help but say, handing him the Rejuvenation Pill. "You've already helped me a lot; there's no need to risk your life."

Lin Yuan smiled, took the pill and swallowed it, his tone tinged with helplessness: "If I had stayed at the pass, you might have been killed by the agents halfway there. I came here this time to see you survive, how could I leave you alone?"

Lin Chen didn't say anything more, but silently slowed down a little to match Lin Yuan's pace. He had always been wary of Lin Yuan—this man claimed to have come from thirty years in the future and knew everything, yet he refused to explain anything clearly. When asked about his mother Su Wan's location, he only said, "You'll know when the time comes." Who knew if he was friend or foe?

After three days of travel, the two finally reached the edge of the desolate land. In the distance, they could see the silhouette of the barbarian sacred mountain, its peak perpetually covered in snow, with faint fluctuations of spiritual energy emanating from it. Just as they were about to speed up, Lin Chen's precognitive ability suddenly triggered, and the scene before them turned into a hazy gray: in the canyon ahead, at least twenty cultivators dressed in black lay in ambush on the cliffs on both sides. The leader held a fiery red sword, and the spiritual energy fluctuations on the sword were familiar—it was Xiao Yan's aura.

"They're Xiao Yan's men." Lin Chen suddenly stopped, the mark on his forehead lighting up. "They've ambushed us in the canyon ahead. There are at least twenty of them, and three psionic mechs are hidden behind the cliff."

Lin Yuan's expression changed: "Xiao Yan actually sided with the Agent? Back in the Qingyun Sect, he was just a traitor, but I didn't expect him to have gotten involved with the Agent now."

"It's not just him." Lin Chen's eyes turned cold. He saw in the premonition that Xiao Yan was holding a blood-red hourglass token, the very mark of the Agent. "He is now the Agent's representative in the Qingyun Sect, specifically responsible for intercepting and killing us."

The two exchanged a glance, both understanding each other's thoughts—forcing their way in would definitely result in losses, so it would be better to use their time-manipulation abilities to catch them off guard. Lin Chen conjured a time-slowing talisman, while Lin Yuan prepared the power of the Time River Mark. The two quietly made their way to the entrance of the canyon.

The ambushing cultivators were growing impatient. One of them muttered, "Brother Xiao said Lin Chen would definitely take this route, so why hasn't he arrived yet? Was the information wrong?"

"Shut up, Brother Xiao's intelligence is never wrong." Another person scolded. As soon as he finished speaking, time in the entire canyon suddenly slowed down. Everyone froze in place, and even the speed at which the rocks falling from the cliffs slowed down tenfold.

"Attack!" Lin Chen shouted, charging in first. His longsword, imbued with spiritual energy, pierced directly at the nearest cultivator. The opponent was ten times slower, having no time to react, and was pierced through the shoulder, collapsing with a scream.

Lin Yuan rushed towards the psionic mech hidden behind the cliff. His power of the River of Time imprint struck the core of the mech, instantly extinguishing the psionic patterns. The cultivator in the control cabin lost consciousness before he could even scream.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, most of the twenty ambushing cultivators were eliminated. The remaining few, seeing that things were not going well, turned around and tried to run away, just in time to run into Xiao Yan who was rushing over.

"Lin Chen, I didn't expect you to be able to break my ambush." ​​Xiao Yan sneered, the fiery red longsword in his hand shining with a dazzling red light. His fire spirit root had evolved to the divine grade, and the temperature on the sword was so high that even the air was distorted. "Today, even if you have the mark of the River of Time, don't think you'll leave here alive."

Lin Chen gripped his sword tightly, the mark on his forehead gleaming brightly: "You've pledged allegiance to the Actors, aren't you afraid of being condemned by everyone?"

"Pointed at by a thousand men?" Xiao Yan laughed so hard he almost fell over, as if he had heard something hilarious. "Once the executor succeeds, I will be the new ruler of the civilization. Who will dare to point fingers at me? Besides, what kind of good person do you think you are? You have the blood of a dimensional ruler flowing through your veins. You are the enemy of all civilizations. I am killing you today for the sake of the world."

As he spoke, he swung his sword, the flames on the blade reaching a length of ten feet, melting the surrounding sand. Lin Chen activated time slowing, barely dodging the attack, but unexpectedly, Xiao Yan's second sword followed immediately, three times faster than the first—had he also mastered the ability to accelerate time?

"This is a time hourglass given to me by the proxy; it can temporarily increase my speed," Xiao Yan sneered. "You think you're the only one with time manipulation abilities?"

Lin Chen's face darkened, and just as he was about to activate Time Stop, he heard Lin Yuan's voice: "Get out of the way!"

Immediately afterward, a pale golden light shot over from the side and struck Xiao Yan's sword directly. Xiao Yan was knocked back three steps, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. Lin Yuan's forehead mark had become bright white, clearly indicating that he had used all his strength.

"How dare you hurt me?" Xiao Yan's eyes reddened. He was about to rush forward when his expression suddenly changed, and he turned and ran. "The Actor needs me. I'll let you go for now, but next time we meet, I'll definitely take your life!"

As he spoke, he tossed out a teleportation talisman, and his figure vanished instantly. Lin Chen wanted to give chase, but Lin Yuan stopped him: "Don't chase after him. The teleportation talisman is one-way; you can't catch up. Besides, the Divine Mountain is just ahead. The main force of the Agents must have already arrived. Let's hurry in and find the Time Crystal."

Lin Chen nodded, and was about to speak when he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood—when he was dodging Xiao Yan's sword, he was grazed by the flames, and the wound was turning black at a visible speed; it was fire poison.

"This is fire poison from a divine-grade fire spirit root; ordinary pills can't cure it." Lin Yuan frowned and handed him his own Rejuvenation Pill. "Take this first. Once we get to the sacred mountain, there's a Pure Spirit Spring that can cure the fire poison."

Lin Chen took the pill and swallowed it, and the spread of the fire poison slowly stopped. He looked in the direction where Xiao Yan had disappeared, his eyes filled with a hint of solemnity—he hadn't expected Xiao Yan to actually side with the Proxy and even master the ability to time; the troubles ahead would only be more numerous.

The two quickened their pace and arrived at the entrance of the sacred mountain in less than half an hour. The stone pillars at the entrance were engraved with barbarian script, and there were also black hourglass marks of the agents next to them, which meant that they had obviously occupied this place.

"Be careful, there's an ambush inside." Lin Chen activated his precognitive ability and took a step forward when his expression suddenly changed drastically—he saw that deep within the sacred mountain, the Time Crystal was being dug out by the Proxy's people, and next to them was a person dressed in black robes whose aura was more than ten times stronger than Xiao Yan's; he was a core subordinate of the Proxy.